Oscar Moment

In keeping with the theme of the game, you might ask the audience for the title of a Hollywood movie that’s never been made, but any suggestion will work.

At some point when a performer speaks, an offstage player calls “Oscar moment!” The player currently speaking then escalates the level of their performance to produce the kind of scene you might see during the Oscars for someone who has been nominated for Best Actor. It’s an opportunity to really “chew the scenery”.

Iryna and Rochelle are customer and sales person in a department store.

NATASHA: An-n-nd there’s your card back. Did you want it all in one bag?

CHRISTINE: Yes, that’s fine…

CALLER: Oscar moment!

CHRISTINE: One bag… My daddy asked me the same question when he kicked us out of the house. Do you want it all in one bag, honey? I was six years old, and I clutched that bag. One big bag for everything that was mine. For my clothes. My toys. My whole life was in that bag. But one thing wasn’t there. My HOME!

NATASHA: Okay, okay. I’ll give you a second bag.

Try to play a range of emotions, changing on each sentence. Don’t get stuck in anger or sorry. Try a moment of laughter, then rage, then love, then weeping. This is definitely a game where you need to “go big or go home.” 

Moving out towards the audience and reminiscing is one approach, but don’t limit it to that. You can also play professions of love, powerful realizations, a moment of high conflict addressing other characters (“You can’t handle the truth!”).

Look at actual Oscar clips to see the types of moments used.

At the end of the Oscar Moment, there should be a sense that you’ve climbed down from the overacting. You can get a laugh with a banal line. If you’ve changed position on the stage for your big moment (a good idea), move back to where you had previously been.

NATASHA: …and it was then I knew that nobody would ever see past my disability. That I’d never be a woman. I’d only…. be… a… THING. (Moves back to her old position) Still, can’t be helped. Coffee?

In a scene, one Oscar Moment per player is usually plenty.

Like so many emotion games, this is a technique you can drop into a scene any time you want to liven things up.